How the power of the Internet helped me get a dinosaur

Here’s a step-by-step look at how the power of the Interwebs helped me score a cute blow-up brontosaurus:

1. In late January, my co-worker Wayne Sutton went to a Refresh the Triangle meet-up at the American Tobacco campus in Durham, where the folks from Bronto Software (an e-mail marketing software company)

2. The next day he showed me photos on his iPhone (Wayne loves his iPhone) of the event, and I couldn’t believe my eyes: There was a giant blow-up brontosaurus. I *gasped* and Wayne rubbed it in by saying: “Yeah, they were giving away small ones too.”

3 . Fast forward to last Thursday. Wayne and I were taking a video blogging class in Charlotte, NC, and we decided to live stream and chat with some Twitter friends (follow me on Twitter). Lucky for us, Adam Covati of Bronto Software logged into the chat room, and I quickly found out he had the power to distribute these cute creatures. (BTW, this brief live chat later lead to a critical blog post that prompted me to get a little defensive yesterday).

4. So yesterday, Wayne attended another Refresh the Triangle meet-up, and Adam passed along my new dinosaur.

Has networking through the Internet ever helped you snag something cooler than this dinosaur?

What’s that on my doorstep?

I stopped by my house for lunch today, and I found this waiting for me:

I approached my doorstep with a little trepidation because I wasn’t expecting any packages, especially any that would come in a plastic bag. Turns out the bag was just filled with two new phone books. I’ve only lived in Raleigh for three months, and I’ve already received two deliveries of phone books. Seems a little excessive to me. Do people really use phone books anymore, what with the Internet and all?

What’s worse, is it turns out I can’t just dump my old phone books in with my weekly recycling. The News & Observer reports that it’s OK to put the old books recycling bins if you live in Durham or Orange counties, but not if you live in Raleigh or Cary:

That’s because taking phone books in the curbside bins usually results in less revenue from a town’s recycling processor, according to Linda Leighton, waste reduction specialist with the City of Raleigh. The books have to be picked out of the bins by hand so they don’t mix with other paper goods. And they’re hardly worth the trouble.

Luckily, if you live in Raleigh or Cary you can still recycle your phone books. You just have to drop them off at one of these approved locations.

So do you ever flip through the phone book anymore? Does it annoy you that they’re automatically dumped at your doorstep?

Update: Ginny picks the glasses that no one seems to like

Wow, so I asked you all to guess which glasses I picked and only one person guessed right.

I picked these (which were letter ‘G’ on the previous post).

Are these really that bad? It’s hard to tell from the picture, but they match my hair color perfectly.

Here’s another reason why Durham rocks

When Durham’s new $44 million performing arts center opens at the end of the year, it will be sporting a long, but cool name. City officials announced today that the venue will be named the “Mildred & Dillard Teer Stage.” Your initial reaction may be: “Huh? Isn’t that a mouthful?”

But here’s why this rocks. Durham is known for being completely community oriented. And so rather than have a theater named after something corporate and generic like Progress Energy Center for the Arts (sorry, Raleigh), it will be named after people who are a part of that community.

The Teers are lifelong Durham residents, according to a news release from the city. They’ve been married for more than 60 years (yes, 60) , and they’ve who have been involved in the community for a long time (Dillard sat on the Raleigh Durham Airport Authority for 31 years and served as a county commissioner, while Mildred once sat on the school board and her father was a tobacconist who ran Roycroft’s Warehouse on Rigsbee Avenue). The Teers’ children decided to honor their parents legacy by paying for the naming rights, which cost $1.2 million over 10 years.

The only thing that could taint this good news is a well-researched article revealing something unsavory about the Teer family. I’m not suggesting the Teer family is anything less than perfect, but knowing local Durham reporters and bloggers, I bet someone is doing some research to see if there’s anything less than desirable that could weigh down the theater’s new good name.

Check out construction progress on the live cam (pictured above).

Ginny gets glasses

I’ve needed glasses for a while. I can’t read the signs hanging in grocery stores telling me what aisle the rice is in. I can’t read street signs from far away, making finding new places difficult. And it’s tough to spot hot guys across a crowded bar when I have to squint. So today I got glasses.

Can you guess which ones I picked?

A. B.
C. D.

E. F.

G. H.

For the record, I wasn’t seriously considering some of these. The ones I picked should arrive in two weeks.

I’ve snacked on venison and I’m not afraid of live bait

For the most part, I grew up in the country. Rural southern Illinois to be exact. Each year my high school boasted “Drive your Tractor to School Day,” sponsored by the FFA (Future Farmers of America). Some of the smaller local schools canceled classes on the first day of deer hunting season. I remember going to my friends’ farm houses and riding pigs and horses, and even jumping off barn rafters into piles of hay. Fishing was a staple of my summers. Venison was its own food group during deer hunting season. And it was common to see pickup trucks with a dead deer hanging out the black and blood dripping down the road during the killing season.

So I had to smile when I read about the upcoming Dixie Deer Classic outdoor show scheduled this weekend at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. The 28th annual event features seminars on “Cooking Venison,” “Preparing your trophy for the Taxidermist,” and even something for the ladies: “Becoming an Outdoor Woman.”

Perhaps the highlight of the event will be the “bragging boards:”

Of course a visit to the Dixie Deer Classic would not be complete without seeing all the deer that are scored placed on display around the scoring room.

And I would be remiss in not sharing the details of how you too can have your deer head judged:

Getting your deer head scored at the Dixie Deer Classic is really simple; you just bring it with you. The price of admission includes scoring one deer head, so all you have to do buy your ticket to get in the show, and then take the deer head to Building Three, The Exposition Center. There you will find in the middle of the floor the “Fortress” or scoring room. The east side of which is the Check-In Counter, where you check in your trophy. This is also where you go to claim it when you are ready to return home. That’s it. Your trophy does not have to be a taxidermy prepared mount, we will score just the antlers on a skull or skull plate. We will NOT score sheds.

The event is sponsored by the Wake County Wildlife Club, a non-profit that promotes conservation and education and fund raising for hunter education, safety classes, wildlife research and more.

Anyone else ever live in a town where deer hunting season led to canceled classes and playing with pigs didn’t seem strange?

As if we needed more reasons to go to McDonald’s

I guess now that McDonald’s offers fancy coffee …

It may draw a bigger crowd on Friday nights …

The McDonald’s on Wake Forest and Six Forks in Raleigh may soon be the most happening fast food joint on Friday nights.

Welcome to McDonald’s, would you like to try a latte?

As of today, nearly every McDonald’s in the Triangle and Fayetteville areas now serves “specialty coffees” for its customers, according to local spokespeople for the restaurant who sent out this press release today:

McDonald’s has taken strides to increase coffee and beverage options since the launch of its Premium Roast Coffee in 2006, and has continued their focus on providing customers’ the variety they want, with the introduction of the McCafe Specialty Coffees. … New coffees include: Lattes, Mochas and Cappuccinos in a variety of options and flavors, including Iced, Caramel and Vanilla, and Hot Chocolate. Most are available in three sizes - small (12 ounces), medium (18 ounces) and large (20 ounces). McDonald’s gives the customers a choice of whole, two percent, or non-fat milk. The new McCafe Specialty Coffees area available in approximately 95 percent of participating McDonald’s restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville area.

Since I love a good cup of coffee, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try a McDonald’s latte.

Have you tried any a latte or a mocha from McDonald’s yet? Are you any more inclined to go to McDonald’s now that they offer these specialty coffees?

This is why you should never steal

Because if karma doesn’t get you, something else might ….

As seen on a telephone pole Saturday afternoon in Raleigh’s Five Points neighborhood. Is this a good way to make yourself feel better about having something stolen from you? Wonder if the ’schmuck’ saw this flier…

Fashion Blogging: If you don’t know what chartreuse is, you’re missing out

While driving through the parking deck at Crabtree Valley Mall yesterday, I spotted 17-year-old Katelin Gragg walking into the mall. You couldn’t miss her in the dark garage because she was glowing in her chartreuse slip. But alas, I couldn’t just get out of the car to photograph her for my fashion blog, so her cute outfit slipped out of my life.

Lucky for me, I spotted her inside and she agreed to be photographed wearing this vibrant chartreuse-colored, chiffon slip over a black turtle neck sweater: “I just had to add color,” the Hickory, N.C. resident said of the slip, which she scored from Urban Outfitters.

Turns out a lot of the men in my life aren’t familiar with chartreuse. I thought the green-yellow color was well-known, but apparently not. A few weeks ago, I took my surrogate father to every shoe store in The Streets at Southpoint in search of a pair of chartreuse-colored flats. He had no idea what we were looking for until I likened it to lime green. (We found a perfect pair of Steve Maddens, BTW, but they didn’t have them in my size and I can’t find them on his Website).

Then yesterday, while at the mall with one of my guy friends, he admitted he had never heard of the color. He even asked me to spell the word, which I think threw him off even more. I made a $1 bet that the sales clerk in J. Crew would know of the color, but he didn’t. Out of four clerks in the store, two knew what I was talking about. I’m not clear on whether I won or lost that bet, but he hasn’t asked for his dollar yet.

Apparently there are a few variations of chartreuse, according to the always trusty Wikipedia, read about it here, if you’re so inclined. Or just take my word for it, chartreuse is hot and you should try adding some of it to your wardrobe this spring.

So you tell me, have you ever heard of this color?